‘Twas the Night Before (the EU Referendum)

Wednesday, 22nd June: On the eve of the EU referendum, and ultimately the last day of 4 months of campaigning, the latest poll released shows a 45/44% narrow lead for the “remain” camp. However, Betfair predicts a 77% probability of a vote “in”, maintaining a >70% probability it has reflected since Monday. Markets in Europe and US (at the time of writing) have reacted positively to a “remain” swing momentum: the FTSE 100 closed +0.56%; markets in the US are trading slightly higher.

Leading the gains in the blue chip index were those in the financial services and banks sector. Hargreaves Lansdown led the pack, up by more than 4% during afternoon trading, closing at +4.07%.

On the UK high street Debenhams reported a 0.2% fall in sales (stores that have been open more than a year). The outgoing Chief Executive said that customers were spending more on “holidays and new cars” as the company reported a strong season for swimwear and luggage. The Q3 like-for-like fall in sales sent the shares lower by more than 6%, closing the day -6.13%.

If you attempted to get to Glastonbury today, here is a list of things you could have also done in those 12 hour queues:

Tim Peake could have travelled to space… and back.

Climbed Mount Everest (the fastest time recorded for scaling Mt Everest is 10 hours 56 minutes)

Apple could earn $216m (they earn on average $300k a minute)

Jeremy Corbyn is set to speak at the festival on Sunday. He will be the first Labour leader to do so, participating in a “in conversation with…” in the Left Field. Any festival goers who have not sent a postal vote will not have the chance to vote tomorrow.